Since when did test matches not matter?
When World Rugby were playing with the idea of introducing a season long competition to the international rugby scene, there was reasonably widespread outrage.
Two of the biggest points of contention were the exclusion of top performing tier two Southern Hemisphere nations in favour of other less deserving (but money-rich) sides, and the potential introduction of promotion and relegation to the Six Nations.
The other issue was that people quite rightly took umbrage to the idea that some higher-ups seemed to be suggesting that test matches lacked purpose if there was no overall prize at the end of the season.
Unlike the round ball code, where internationals are very much considered friendlies unless there’s a major trophy on offer such as the European Cup, rugby has always considered international matches the peak of the game.
Professionalism, however, has slowly but surely changed things.
World Cup state of mind
The World Cup, since its inception, has widely been considered the pinnacle of professional rugby. World Rugby rankings may get some time in the limelight when there are no major competitions taking place, but you can bet that more people remember who won the 2007 Rugby World Cup than which team spent the three years preceding the competition at the top of the rankings.
Still, while the World Cup may have been the peak of the game, individual test matches were still incredibly important.
We’re now reaching a point, however, where games between top-tier teams and fierce rivals are losing their lustre and importance because they’re effectively being used as warm-ups and trials for the big event.
Earlier this year, Steve Hansen was very quick to point out that the World Cup was the priority this year and everything leading up to it wouldn’t matter in the greater scheme of things.
“If we don’t win [The Rugby Championship], we won’t lose any sleep over that,” Hansen said of the competition that was once considered the pinnacle of South Hemisphere international rugby.
“We want to win the Bledisloe Cup, for sure, and want to win the World Cup.
“Along the way we have to make some sacrifices to do that and we may have to take some risks … but hopefully we’ll get the rewards.”
In 2011 and 2015 the All Blacks ceded the Rugby Championship but still went on to win the World Cup, but that doesn’t mean those tournaments couldn’t have been won as well as the top prize.
Imagine the likes of former coaches Bryan Lochore, Alex Wylie or John Hart suggesting that they wouldn’t lose sleep over suffering a defeat to the Springboks or the Wallabies.
The problem with professional rugby right now is that there’s always something bigger to prepare for.
Dominated by future thought
A large proportion of the discussion that comes out of any provincial, club or Super Rugby match simply revolves around which players have advanced their cases for national selection.
We’re now reaching a point where international matches themselves are only being assessed within the sphere of the World Cup.
That’s not the fault of the coaches, however – they know that they’ll be judged not on their overall records but on their performances at the World Cup. This is particularly true when it comes to the coaches of the top teams. The rhetoric around coaches of England, South Africa and New Zealand seems to only concern whether or not they brought home the William Webb Ellis Cup during their tenure.
Sir Graham Henry is one of the most successful All Blacks coaches in rugby history. In his first four years in the job, Henry lost just six matches from 48 played, giving him an 88% success rate. That would have made him the most successful All Blacks coach ever who had been in control for more than 15 matches.
Henry’s All Blacks were knocked out of the 2007 World Cup in the quarter-finals by France (New Zealand’s worst ever finish) and Henry almost lost his job because of it. Thankfully, he didn’t – and he went on to coach the All Blacks to a 2011 title.
There’s reason to rate the World Cup as a greater accomplishment than other tournaments, but that doesn’t mean everything should be pushed to the side to accommodate for it.
Using massive fixtures as simple warm-ups
Perhaps the greatest insult is that matches which were once considered exciting, impassioned fights to the death are now being billed as mere ‘warm-ups’.
Until 2003 Wales and England had played each another only once every year since 1881. It was one of the biggest, annual matches in the sporting calendar. In 2003, they did battle three times: once in the Six Nations, once as warm-up for the World Cup, and one in the showpiece tournament. In 2011 they again had three matches whilst in 2007 and 2015 they played each other twice.
This year, the British rivals will play two warm-up matches and could then face off again in either the quarter-finals or grand final of the World Cup. Factor in the Six Nations epic earlier this year and we could be set for four games between the two sides.
Whilst it’s always going to be easy to get excited by matches between England and Wales, the magnitude of the clash certainly loses some of its character when we’re seeing it happen so many times in one calendar year.
People were worried that the Nations League was going to undermine the World Cup – but that’s exactly what the World Cup has already done to other competitions and other test matches.
That’s not to say that there isn’t still a huge amount of interest in these games. International rugby has always been the peak of the sport and the World Cup is the peak of international rugby. The players themselves won’t ever feel content after a loss just because a match was a warm-up – but that’s an attitude that needs to be maintained by coaches, union and fans alike.
We’re not yet at a point where individual matches have lost their spark. Test matches are still passionate, brutal affairs – but professionalism has brought with it a cost. If the eyes are always on the prize at the end of the four-year cycle then we’re at risk of seeing regular international fixtures lose their importance in the rugby calendar, which would be a huge shame.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments